File Preparation

Folded Products

Brochures

Usually folded products have four, six or eight pages in their closed format, sometimes even more. However, your print file has to be delivered with 2 pages only in so called "open format". To save yourself time and/or unexpected surprises when receiving the printed product, we highly recommend the use of our file templates while creating your print file; this becomes more and more important with the increasing panel numbers of your brochure.


Here an overview of different folding styles:


Please pay attention to the location of your brochure's cover panel. This location varies based on the folding style you have chosen. Generally though, when saving files in a 2 page document, the brochure's outside containing your cover will be on page 1 of your pdf file, and the inside on page 2. If you aren't sure if you planned your brochure correctly, we recommend printing both pages, glueing them back to back, and folding them based on your final product as paper dummy.

The print file for a 6 page trifold, for example, needs to be set up like this:

Well executed folding requires that those panels laying inside once folded are slightly shorter. Depending on the folding style, also panel sizes may be mirrored when comparing the outside to the inside of your brochure. The folding lines are marked in our file templates so you can savely use these as guidelines when creating your design.

If you are new to designing folded products, or still feel a little insecure about the correct setup, we highly recommend adding a file check to your order. Our preflight team will check for correct position of folding lines and safe zone when booking this option.

 

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